bands who let audience members come up and perform with them

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I love this Fifth Wren thing, does anyone know if there is any notable precedent for it?

― Nedpoleon (NedBeauman), Friday, 3 November 2006 23:55 (seventeen years ago) link

Belle and Sebastian often let people get on stage and sing with them. Most notably when they got someone off Sinister onstage at the Royal Albert Hall who grabbed the mike and started singing "The State That I'm In" which they obviously hadn't rehearsed and had forgotten all the words too.

― ailsa (ailsa), Saturday, 4 November 2006 00:01 (seventeen years ago) link

Green Day usually has a part in the show when they grab people out of the audience and get them to play guitar/bass/drums.

― Elvis Telecom (Chris Barrus), Saturday, 4 November 2006 00:05 (seventeen years ago) link

im pretty sure the who have the most famous version of this. they let someone play drums for a whole show when keith was too fucked up or something.

― chaki (chaki), Saturday, 4 November 2006 00:08 (seventeen years ago) link

steel dragon!

― fact checking cuz (fcc), Saturday, 4 November 2006 00:17 (seventeen years ago) link

Flipper made it part of their act - supposedly a teenage Moby was up there with them once.

― everything (everything), Saturday, 4 November 2006 00:19 (seventeen years ago) link

there are millions of bands that do this

― Shakey Mo Collier (Shakey Mo Collier), Saturday, 4 November 2006 00:19 (seventeen years ago) link

Oh, I get it, we're starting another list thread in the no list november regime but not naming it as such. clever!

― ailsa (ailsa), Saturday, 4 November 2006 00:21 (seventeen years ago) link

Elvis Costello did a number of tours/gigs where he plucked volunteers from the audience to play along on a toy drum set. I think it might have been the tour where he did the Spectacular Singing Songbook...

― Myke. (Myke Weiskopf), Saturday, 4 November 2006 01:42 (seventeen years ago) link

I saw a video of a Cramps concert at mental hospital were they gave one of the audience members the microphone and he started screaming

― Adam S S (Zephery), Saturday, 4 November 2006 02:43 (seventeen years ago) link

I saw the Lemonheads play in the Cellar at the U of Arizona. Dando's voice was out so he invited audience members up to sing the songs.

― ramon fernandez (ramon fernandez), Saturday, 4 November 2006 06:42 (seventeen years ago) link

too much crack

― Charlie Howard (the sphinx), Saturday, 4 November 2006 06:43 (seventeen years ago) link

Keith Moon passed out cold on animal tranquilizers at a Los Angeles gig once -- they pulled a kid out of the audience to finish the encore.

― Colin Meeder (Mert), Saturday, 4 November 2006 07:51 (seventeen years ago) link

That sounds about right.

― jim wentworth (wench), Saturday, 4 November 2006 07:58 (seventeen years ago) link

isn't this technically a list thread

― wordy rappinghood (roxymuzak), Saturday, 4 November 2006 08:33 (seventeen years ago) link

Surprise Surprise!

http://www.silverbulletcomicbooks.com/news/images/0406/cyclonebill2.jpg

― Hoosteen (Hoosteen), Saturday, 4 November 2006 08:57 (seventeen years ago) link

A local band I once saw (can't remember their name though) handed out small percussion to the audience for their last song, which I thought was pretty fun and cool.

― Ben Dot (1977), Saturday, 4 November 2006 14:45 (seventeen years ago) link

One of Bruce Pavitt's (Sub Pop founder) early "claims' to fame" was jumping up on stage @ a DKs show when Jello offered to turn the stage over to the audience. He grabbed the guitar and strapped it on with the strings facing his body 'cause, of course, he didn't actually know HOW to play the guitar...

Jello made a caustic comment about the "avant guard"...

― factcheckr (factcheckr), Saturday, 4 November 2006 16:51 (seventeen years ago) link

Depends how you define "perform", but Bruce Springsteen did have a tendency for some time to pick some girl from the audience to come up and dance with him during "Dancing In The Dark".

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Saturday, 4 November 2006 18:54 (seventeen years ago) link

the bloodiest night of my life

― wordy rappinghood (roxymuzak), Saturday, 4 November 2006 20:37 (seventeen years ago) link

Posting an answer that does not contribute to the list, I saw the Wrens on Thursday, and they played "Hopeless" without using a 5th Wren. They did insist that 20-30 audience members join them onstage for the finale.

In the past, for their song "She Sends Kisses," the Wrens have often handed out drumsticks to 3-4 audience members so that they could provide the proper clicking sounds for the song.

― priceyeah (priceyeah), Sunday, 5 November 2006 14:25 (seventeen years ago) link

Oh yeah, anyone ever see TMBG do "the Log song"? In that one they let someone come onstage and pound this huge log into the ground over and over, for the beat.

― priceyeah (priceyeah), Sunday, 5 November 2006 14:27 (seventeen years ago) link

Scott Halpin to thread!

― mark grout (mark grout), Monday, 6 November 2006 11:40 (seventeen years ago) link

A friend and I went to see Laurel Aitken a few years ago. During the encores, some audience members made their way on stage and my friend grabbed the mic and helped the - already quite old and forgetful - Laurel with some of the lyrics.

― Daniel Giraffe (Daniel Giraffe), Monday, 6 November 2006 14:38 (seventeen years ago) link

Depends how you define "perform", but Bruce Springsteen did have a tendency for some time to pick some girl from the audience to come up and dance with him during "Dancing In The Dark".

Things people shouldn't be reminded of:
Courtney Cox: Worst Dancing In Broad Daylight Evah.

― ONIMO feels teh NOIZE (GerryNemo), Monday, 6 November 2006 14:48 (seventeen years ago) link

I saw a Sloan show where they slowly picked out members of the audience and gradually replaced all the members of the band - except Patrick, who just kept soldiering on, somewhat perplexed...

Until Chris explained that it was a birthday prank - "We've got you just what you always wanted for your birthday - a brand new band!"

― Dear Cafes of London (kate), Monday, 6 November 2006 14:51 (seventeen years ago) link

Chris Knox

― spectra (spectra), Monday, 6 November 2006 14:52 (seventeen years ago) link

one year passes...

Scott Halpin RIP

― Elvis Telecom, Tuesday, 18 March 2008 20:40 (sixteen years ago) link

yeah, saw this and thought of this dude. One footnote in Rock history will be forever his.

― Mark G, Tuesday, 18 March 2008 21:44 (sixteen years ago) link

There's a great clip of PiL's "Death Disco" on this bootleg DVD I have where some guy in the audience (with a bright yellow jacket, if I remember) comes up about halfway through and dances on and on and on in ecstasy, with the band extending the song just so the kid can dance some more, and Lyden attempting to dance with him, despite being hopelessly outclassed by the kid.

Not on youtube, though.

― Z S, Tuesday, 18 March 2008 22:02 (sixteen years ago) link

Manowar always get someone from the audience on stage to play a song on guitar with them. When I've seen them do it there seemed to be no sound coming out for that second guitar, though. Perhaps they mute the guest's channel just in case he messes up.

― no-nonsense, Tuesday, 18 March 2008 22:10 (sixteen years ago) link

if it is your birthday, my band will play happy birthday and you will play a solo on cowbell or beer bottle.

― Jordan, Tuesday, 18 March 2008 22:12 (sixteen years ago) link

Akron Family do this regularly.

― BlackIronPrison, Tuesday, 18 March 2008 22:13 (sixteen years ago) link

weezer

― J0rdan S., Tuesday, 18 March 2008 22:14 (sixteen years ago) link

AMM

― sonderangerbot, Tuesday, 18 March 2008 22:25 (sixteen years ago) link

AMM? You mean the Tijuana/Monterrey tech-kraut duo?

― Mackro Mackro, Tuesday, 18 March 2008 22:35 (sixteen years ago) link

I saw them live, and they were fantastic... but no one dared getting up onstage with them or the audience would have kicked his or her ass, because the two were just doing well by themselves.

― Mackro Mackro, Tuesday, 18 March 2008 22:36 (sixteen years ago) link

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